Makeshift Christmas
by Holyknightsteve
Summary: Even after all of his years of travelling, Vash still doesn't know what Christmas is. Little does he know that he's about to find out in the best way possible.


A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! This here is my gift to Hoshiko Shinomori, a wonderful friend of mine and a fine author as well (check out her stories!). To everyone who reads this, especially you Hoshi, I really hope you enjoy this! Please note that this is my first attempt at writing about Trigun, so please don't be too harsh.

**Big Bold-Faced Disclaimer:** Ahem. I don't own Trigun. Wow, that was simple.

Note: Yes, I suppose this story is slightly A/U, since it involves VashXMeryl and WolfwoodXMilly relationships while **_SPOILER!_** Wolfwood is still alive. Whether this takes place during the course of the series or after the series is up to you.

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**_Makeshift Christmas_**

When one thinks of Christmas, many think of a time of peace on the planet. Others think about presents and the spirit of giving. Others still think about a jolly old man by the name of Santa Claus who travels from house to house in order to bring toys and other prizes to children all over the world. Some even think of the long forgotten and often described as "ancient" precipitation known as "snow".

For Vash, however, all he could think about was food. His stomach was restless, unwilling to release its death-grip from his mind. His lower torso growled and snarled, turned and twisted, flipped and flopped. Vash felt as if he was going to die.

"Oh grow up!" yelled Meryl as she kicked Vash in the shin, bringing a surprised yelp of pain from him. "You just ate two hours ago!"

Vash rubbed his shin and looked at her with hurt eyes. "But I-"

Wolfwood threw the butt of his cigarette into the dry soil and sand beneath him and waved his now-free hand. "We know. You're hungry. You've been telling us that ever since the buggy ran out of gas, no thanks to you!"

Millie placed a single finger on her forehead, giving the impression that she was trying to think. Trying. "Looking back, I don't think trying to impress us by juggling our gas cans while we were trying to avoid a sandstorm was a very good idea."

"…but it was funny, right?" asked Vash, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

Millie smiled warmly. "Hehe! Sure was!"

Meryl closed her eyes and shook her head. "Millie, you're not helping."

Wolfwood snorted. "What makes this particularly _humorous_ now is that I have to lug this big frickin' gun all over the damn desert!" He nodded toward the cross-shaped Punisher gun on his back. "You could've at least offered to carry it for me in return for all the trouble you caused!"

"Why?" asked Vash innocently. "It's your gun. You should've put more thought into picking a smaller gun like mine. It's very light, isn't Millie?"

She smiled and held Vash's gun up high… the gun he was supposed to be carrying. "Yup! Light as a feather!"

Meryl slapped herself in the face. "Millie, why are you carrying Vash's gun?"

Millie paused a put her finger to her lip this time. "Because Mr. Vash said he was getting tired and it was too heavy for him to carry any further."

Wolfwood sighed. "Are you sure they're not related?"

Meryl nodded. "Positive."

"Hey look!" yelled Vash. "I can see a town over there!"

Meryl pulled out a map and glanced it over. "That must be Mayfair then. Should be plenty to do there. I think we could use some rest most of all though."

"Mmhmm," hummed Millie in agreement. "Besides, Mr. Vash's gun is starting to get heavy."

Wolfwood grumbled.

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"Any luck?" asked Meryl as she returned to her friends.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Nope!"

"Nothing."

"What was the question?"

Meryl sighed. "Great. Every inn and hotel in town is booked up."

Wolfwood shrugged as he set down the Punisher. "What did you expect? Look around you. It IS the Christmas season after-all."

He waved his hand all around him. Although the lack of snow kept the scene from looking like a traditional Christmas backdrop, everything looked festive nonetheless. Wreaths hung from both the front doors of houses and light posts. Stores had several holiday wares on display in their front windows, including dresses of green and red, exotic looking bells, and large amounts of silver and gold jewelry. People were running form here to there, obviously in a hurry to get everything done. Despite this, however, there wasn't a sense of tension in the air, rather, there was a sense of joy. Groups of old friends walked past and laughed as they cracked jokes and relived stories of the past. Children were running about as their parents followed close behind them, wondering what lie in wait within the bags that they carried. Young sweethearts strolled by hand in hand. They were silent, but the overly content and peaceful looks on their faces told endless stories of happiness.

Millie clapped her hands together and laughed. "I just love Christmas!"

Vash scratched his head. "What's Christmas?"

All three of his friends turned to him, puzzled.

"What?" asked Meryl, stunned. "You've never heard of Christmas?"

He shook his head. "No. Whenever I'm in any town, I never stick around for too long."

"Aww, that's so sad!" sad Millie with a sniffle. "Everyone deserves to know about and celebrate Christmas!"

"Really?" asked Vash. "Well, what is it then?"

Millie brightened up and smiled. "Well y'see, it's-"

"Santa Claus!"

The group turned to a pair of slightly dirty young boys that came running up to them. Once the children got a better glimpse and what they were running toward, they stopped dead in their tracks. "Hey! You're not Santa Claus!" said one of the children as he pointed to Vash.

"Huh?" asked Vash, puzzled.

"Yeah!" said the other. "It's just some big, dumb guy!"

Vash's face turned completely red with anger. "I'm not big!" he yelled. Everyone went silent as they looked at him. Vash realized what he said and immediately became very sheepish. "Err… I mean I'm not… dumb…" he said in a quiet voice."

Millie kneeled down in front of the children as Meryl pulled Vash aside and tried to soothe his ego. "Aww, c'mon now you two!" said Millie cheerfully. "You shouldn't say mean things like that. It's Christmas, y'know!"

Both of the children looked down and shuffled their feet. "We're sorry. We're just getting upset."

"Upset?" asked Wolfwood as he kneeled down. "Upset about what?"

One of the boys looked up at him. "We're trying to find Santa Claus."

"Santa Claus?" asked Wolfwood with a chuckle. "That's a pretty lofty goal. Why are you looking for him?"

The other boy spoke up. "We want to find him to see if he can give something nice to Annie!"

"Who Annie?" asked Millie.

"Annie's a really nice lady that takes care of us and our other friends!" said the boy cheerfully.

"Yeah!" said the other boy. "And she's really pretty too!" They both nodded.

"Orphans…" said Wolfwood under his breath.

One of the boys started walking away. "C'mon, it's starting to get late. Annie'll get worried if we're not there in time for supper."

The other boy nodded and waved to Wolfwood and Millie. "See you later! Sorry for bothering you!" With that, the two boys ran off.

Wolfwood and Millie stood up and said nothing for a moment. Vash and Meryl rejoined them a moment later, Vash's ego slightly healed. "Did something happen?" asked Meryl.

Millie turned to her long-time friend, but before she could say anything, Wolfwood hoisted the Punisher onto his back again and walked off in the direction that the children ran. She turned back to him. "Nicholas? Where are you going?"

Without turning back, he said, "Just gonna see if I can help out a bit. Got nothing better to do anyway."

Millie chased after him. "Well wait for me then!" she cried. Meryl followed shortly afterward.

Vash lowered his head and trudged slowly behind them. "Isn't anyone gonna tell me what Christmas is?"

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"Annie!" yelled the boys as they barreled through the front door and through other children toward their caretaker.

She kneeled down and hugged them both as they neared her. "There you are! I was starting to get worried. Please don't- hmm? Who's there?"

One-by-one, complete strangers began to file through the small doorway, four in all. The children stared in awe at these people, wondering what they were doing here. The strangers looked uncomfortable in this environment except for the one who wore a suit and was carrying a large cross on his back.

Annie let go of the children and stared at them. "Um, y-yes? Can I help you?"

Wolfwood took off his sunglasses to get a better look at the girl. She was young, perhaps not even a day over eighteen, certainly not old enough to be carrying for the near-dozen of children that stared at him. She was small of stature, reaching perhaps 5'3, _maybe _one-hundred pounds. She was skinny, frail even… but she was exceptionally pretty. Her shoulder length burnt-auburn hair went nicely with her crystal-blue eyes. Her clothes were exceedingly simple along with both a bit tattered and dirty. Looking around, it was obvious that the house they resided in was in terrible shape. Bits of pieces of the walls of ceiling were missing here and there and faded splashes of paint could be seen at some spots. It looked as if the caretaker of the house, most likely this "Annie" girl, had tried her best to try and keep the house in shape, but she was fighting a losing battle.

"Umm… sir?"

Wolfwood shook his head. "Sorry about that."

Vash stepped forward and took a look around. "Huh. This place could use a little work, huh?"

One of the boys next to Annie pointed at Vash. "Hey! It's that big, stupid guy!"

Vash stomped his foot. "I'm not-mmf!" cried Vash as Meryl slapped her hand over Vash's mouth.

"Hush, you!" said Meryl sternly.

Annie blushed and tapped the boy on the shoulder. "Alec! You shouldn't say things like that!"

Millie giggled. "It's okay. Mr. Vash is used to it by now."

Wolfwood shook his head and set down the Punisher, leaning it against one of the more stable looking walls. Sorry for intruding miss, but those boys next to you caught my interest. If I'm not mistaken, you're Annie?"

She nodded. "Y-yes I am."

Millie glanced at the young woman. "Do you take care of all of these children by yourself?"

She nodded again. "Yes I do."

Wolfwood closed his eyes. "No parents?" He asked this despite the fact that he already knew the answer.

She shook her head. "No sir. I've… lived on the streets since I was thirteen."

"That's terrible!" said Meryl. "How do you get by?"

The young woman lowered her head. "I-I do odd jobs here and there. It's not much, but it's barely enough to keep myself and the children in okay shape."

"You look tired," said Vash quietly, making his first intelligent observation of the day.

Everyone turned to Vash, then back to Annie. She said nothing at first, but eventually spoke up again in a more quiet voice. "These children are my life. Even though they're not mine, I feel like a mother to all of them. It's my job to take care of them, no matter what. Who else do they have? Who else do I have?"

All of the children stood up at once and crowded around Annie to hug her except for one of the boys from earlier. He walked up to Vash and looked up at him. "That's why we were looking for Santa Claus. We want him to bring something nice for Annie. She works so hard just to take care of all of us." He looked down and walked away to join his friends around Annie.

Vash closed his eyes. "That's so sad…" He opened his eyes and looked at Meryl. "Meryl?"

"Yes?" she asked, half-lost in thought.

"This Santa Claus… does he have something to do with Christmas?"

She nodded. "Yes. He's a jolly man in a red suit that is said to spread joy among all of the children of the world by giving out presents and other nice things."

Millie piped up. "Yeah! That's what Christmas is all about!"

"Is it?" asked Vash. "Sounds like a really nice holiday. Why don't they have that every day?"

Wolfwood puts his shades back on. "There's not enough good in the world for that to happen."

Vash glanced over at Annie and the children and smirked. "We'll see about that. Everybody, show me all of the money you've got!"

"What?" asked everyone at once.

"Trust me! Now come on!"

Everyone did as they were told and revealed their own secret stashes of money. "Not much, is it?" observed Millie. "No more than a few thousand double dollars.

"Perfect!" cried Vash as he swiped all of the money at once, much to everyone's surprise.

"What are you doing!" cried Meryl.

He winked. "Don't worry! This will be put to good use!" He left the house, leaving his stunned companions behind. Not long after, Vash's arm reached through the doorway and grabbed Wolfwood's thin bicep. "You're coming with me!"

Before he could say "Dwah!" Wolfwood was flying behind Vash as he sped through the streets.

Millie and Meryl blinked. "What do you suppose that was all about?" asked Millie.

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"Um… t-thank you for all of your help," said Annie with a bow. "I'm usually so tired after work to do anything that many things around the house get left undone."

Meryl smiled. "No problem. It was my pleasure." She pointed over to Millie who was buying playing with all of the children at once. "Besides, once Millie took care of the kids, it was all a piece of cake."

Annie laughed for the first time since they had met as she watched all of the children wrestle around with Millie. "They look like they're having fun."

At one point, Millie flexed an impressive looking (for a lady) bicep and laughed. "Oh come on! Is that all you've got? My big brothers were a lot tougher than this!"

Annie turned back to Meryl. "I'm not sure why you came here, but I'm glad that you did. You've helped s out so much already. I wish I had some way to repay you."

Meryl waved her hand. "Hey now, it's no problem. It's Christmas, isn't it?"

Annie nodded. "Y-yes it is. It's…" Her voice lowered. "It's been so long since me or any of the children have properly celebrated Christmas."

Meryl ran a hand through her own hair, her smile fading. "I'm so sorry to hear that. I wish we could give you some money to make your holiday a little brighter." She rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, our not so terribly bright companion ran off with all of our money. There's no telling what he's doing now."

A number of loud bumps sounded on the roof. "What was that?" asked a startled Millie.

Two men could be heard talking above the roof. "Huh? Where's the chimney?" asked one of the men.

"You idiot!" replied the other one. "They don't have a chimney!"

"So… what do we do then?"

"What else? Use the front door!"

"Front… door? …brilliant!"

"sigh Gah. I still think I look stupid."

"Who… is that?" asked Annie.

"Robbers! On Christmas Eve of all nights!" said a frustrated Meryl. She picked up a fallen piece of the roof she had cleaned up earlier and walked toward the door. She winded back, ready to strike whoever came through the door. All of the children gathered around Annie and clung onto her for dear life.

Silence.

Millie scratched her head. "Did they go away?"

The door slammed open with a crash. "Ho ho ho!" said a man in a familiar red coat as he strolled casually into the living room.

Initially surprised by the man who came bursting through the door, Meryl had dropped her piece of debris and turned to face the man. Before she knew it, another man in a strange outfit came strolling through with a large bag on his back.

The man in the red suit put his hands on his hips and laughed. "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas kids!"

"Santa Claus!" yelled all of the children at once.

"Santa Claus?" asked the befuddled trio of women in the room.

"Santa Claus" turned around and winked at Meryl. He was thin, but possessed the white facial hair and familiar cap that was often associate with Saint Nicholas. She knew those eyes though. "That face… and of course! His coat! It's Va-mmf!"

Millie cupped her mouth over Meryl, hushing her immediately. "Look kids! It's Santa Claus!" She then whispered into Meryl's ear "I don't know what's going on either, but I think we better play along." She looked back at the other man dressed up as what appeared to be an elf. He wore a pointed green hat with a bell on top along with matching shoes. He had a short sleeved green shirt and shorts. Underneath this, he wore red tights that covered almost his entire body. He was smiling, but Millie could immediately tell that he was uncomfortable. She raised her voice again. "And this must be his famous elf companion, uh… Wolfy!"

"Wolfy?" asked Wolfwood of himself as he forced a laugh. Knowing that this was for the children, he clicked his belled shoes together and bowed. "A pleasure to meet all of you!" he said with forced comfort.

"Santa Claus? Wolfy?" asked Annie as she looked on. Wolfwood shot her a glance and winked. She nodded and smiled. "I-it's an honor to have both of you at our house. What brings you here?"

Vash pounded his stomach twice and laughed. "Ho ho! I heard there were a lot of good girls and boys here. Now, where could they be…" He placed his hand over his eyes like a visor and began to look around. The children laughed and began to jump and yell excitedly, trying to get his attention. "Hmm, I know they're around here somewhere…" He acted like he was looking around again and then looked down at the children. He smiled. "Oh ho ho! Here they are! Right under old Santa's nose! I believe I have some presents for all of you!"

The same boy that had made fun of Vash earlier stepped up, smiling. "This is great! That big, dumb guy must've found Santa for us!"

Vash's eyes once again filled with rage. "**_I'M NOT_**-"

His sentence was cut off as "Wolfy" tackled him and knocked him to the ground. "Uh, hehe… oh Santa Claus? Don't you have some presents to give out?" Wolfwood shot Vash a "I'm going to kill you look" that no one else but the recipient saw.

Vash swallowed a lump in his throat. "Ho… ho… ho…"

From the other side of the room, Meryl, Millie, and Annie giggled with delight.

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The house was much happier with the presents dispensed and opened. Children were running all around, playing with their new toys. "Wolfy" was sitting in a chair situated on the edge of the doorway. He puffed on a cigarette and blew the smoke outside, not wanting to poison the lungs of the young ones. Vash stood up from his own chair after a brief sit-down and waved his arms about. "Ho ho ho! Listen up everyone!" Everyone immediately snapped to attention and glued their eyes upon the imposter of the generous saint. "Santa still has one last gift to give to a very good and special girl here."

"You mean Annie?" asked one of the children.

Vash laughed. "None other!" This brought claps of approval from the children as well as several cheers.

Not far away, Annie blushed. "Huh? W-what?"

Vash walked up to the small-statured young woman. "Young lady, will you open your palm to me?"

Annie said nothing but did as she was told. Vash reached into one of his many pockets, pulled something out, and placed it in her hands. He pulled away a bit, allowing her to see what she had: two-thousand double-dollars. She looked up, stunned. Va-… Santa, I can't-"

Vash leaned over. "Merry Christmas," he whispered in his regular voice. He smiled and walked back to his chair and sat down.

Annie didn't know what to say. The children began to gather around their caretaker and stand on their tip-toes to see what she had gotten. "What didja get Annie?" asked one of them.

She smiled and kneeled down. "Look at all the money children! Now we can get some nice things for us!"

Vash smiled as he listened to the cheers of the children. Meryl walked over and stood next to Vash. He looked up at her and smiled through his fake beard. "Sorry I spent all the money."

She smiled back. "Don't be." She then sat down on his lap much like a young child would. "That was very sweet of you Vash," she whispered into his ear. Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek, instantly making the legendary gunfighter's cheeks flush with hues of crimson. The children who stood by and had watched answered with mixed reviews: the boys had had nothing better to say than "Eww!" while all of the little girls giggled and said "Aww!" No matter what they thought, they eventually said, in unison, "She's kissing Santa Claus!" Even Annie joined in on the laughs that followed.

Millie walked over to the doorway, lifted Wolfwood from his chair, and hugged him tightly, causing him to drop his cigarette. "And this is my favorite elf in the whole world! Hee hee!"

Wolfwood forced a smile. He wouldn't have had to force it if it weren't for the fact that he was being choked to death by the overly strong Millie. "Uh… gack… hehe… gah!"

The boy that had called Vash stupid earlier walked up to him with a box. "Umm… Santa?"

Vash turned to him. "Ye- ah, ahem! Ho ho, what is it young man?"

"Thanks for coming to our house. You really made Annie happy. Umm… we don't have any cookies, but the nice man at the bakery did give us some donuts just in case Santa came." The boy smiled and lifted the box up toward Vash.

Meryl laughed. "How about that Santa? Now you're the one getting gifts!"

"…donuts?" said Vash with awe. He gently took the box from the young boy and immediately welled up with joy. "Man I love Christmas!" With that, he plucked the first donut out of the box and got to work on it.

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Done! Finally done! I really hope that anyone who reads this enjoys it, especially you Hoshiko! Merry Christmas to you! Thank you for being such a wonderful friend!


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